Hydraulic log-barker having logholddown rollers and confronting rotary spray heads



Jan. 5, 1954 H. A. SIMONS. 2,664,

HYDRAULIC LOG-BARKER HAVING LOG-HOLDDOWN ROLLERS AND CONFRONTING ROTARYSPRAY HEADS Filed March 17, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet l nun nu INVIN UR HOWARDALMA! SIHONS iwm Jan. 5, 1954 H. A. SIMONS 2,664,929

HYDRAULIC LOG-BARKER HAVING LOG-HOLDDOWN ROLLERS AND CONFRQNTING ROTARYSPRAY HEADS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 17, 1953 I02. I36 I6 M.

mvnnun HOWAM ALLAN SIM Jan. 5, 1954 H. A. SIMONS 2,664,929

. HYDRAULIC LOG-BARKER HAVING LOG-HOLDDOWN ROLLERS AND CONFRONTINGROTARY SPRAY HEADS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 17, 1953 INVENTOl HOWARDALLAN SIMONS .26- ATIDRNIVS Patented Jan. 5, 1954 HYDRAULIC LOG-BARKERHAVING LOG- HOLDDOWN ROLLERS AND ICONFRONT- ING ROTARY SPRAY-HEADSHoward Allan Simons, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ApplicationMarch 17, 1953, Serial No. 342,867

17 Claims. 1

This invention generally relates to a device for removing bark from logsby feeding the logs past jets of water under high pressure. Such devicesare termed hydraulic barkers and this term will be used herein. Morespecifically, the invention relates to a hydraulic barker especiallydesigned for the treatment of small logs, by which I mean a log having adiameter of about one and a half feet or less, and a length of about sixfeet or less.

The debarking of small logs presents a special problem since the smalllogs lack the inertia which is relied upon in the case of larger logs tosteady them against the rolling and tilting tendencies applied theretoby the impingement of the high pressure jets. The conveying andsupporting mechanism which carries the logs past the water jets must, ofcourse, be able to accommodate logs of widely differing diameters, justas in the case of larger log barkers, but this common problem isaggravated in the case of small 10g barkers by the greater need tosteady these logs against the forces of the jets. Since the small logsmust be debarked at high speeds, if the barker is to be commerciallyattractive, and since a log of, say, 18 inch diameter may be immediatelyfollowed by a log of appreciably smaller diameter, yet each log must besecurely steadied against rolling or tilting as it is carried past thehigh pressure jets, it can readily be seen that severe demands are madeupon the small log barker. The demands are, in fact, so severe that, asfar as I am aware, no small log hydraulic barker has found anysignificant market in industry.

I have devised a barker for small logs which is fully satisfactory inthat it conveys logs past the jets at high speeds, adequately steadiesthe logs as they are carried past the jets, and automatically adjustsitself to accommodate logs of greatly different diameters fed thereto inimmediate succession. My new barker may be generally defined ascomprising a main frame, two axially aligned oppositely disposed rotaryspray heads facing each other and spaced apart a distance sli htlygreater than the diameter of the largest leg for which the apparatus isdesigned, means for feeding water under pressure to said spray heads,means for rotating said spray heads at high speeds, a pair ofhorizontally aligned rollers rotatably mounted in said main frame anddisposed on opposite sides of said spray heads with their of rotationparallel, an ingoing conveyor leading to one of said rollers, anoutgoingconveyor leading from the other of said rollers, a

third roller rotatably mounted above the roller.

adjacent the ingoing conveyor with its axis of rotation parallel to thatof the latter roller, .a log advancing ,means vertically swingablymounted in said'main frame above the ingoing conveyor, said third rollerbeing mounted for generally vertical movement in sympathy with theswinging of said -log advancing means, and a fourth roller rotatablymounted above the roller adjacent the outgoing conveyor with its axis ofrotation parallel to that of the latter roller, said fourth roller beingmounted for verticalswinging to accommodate logs of different diameter.Preferably, a fifth roller is rotatably mounted above said outgoingconveyor and is suspended from the main frame for vertical swinging toaccommodate logs of varying diameters.

It will be seen that with the arrangement de scribed there are twohorizontally spaced pairs of vertically spaced rollers which grip thelog from above and below and steady it as it is car- .ried past thespray. heads; and a single roller (the fifthroller) which bears againstthe upper forward surface ofa log and steadies the log when the afterend thereof has cleared the first vertical pair of rollers but is stillbeing acted upon by the sprays. The log advancing means, in additiontoits main functionof advancing the log, plays va role comparable to thatof said fifth roller, in that it bears against the upper surface of theafter end of a log when its forward end has passed through the firstvertical pair of rollers (and is being debarked) but has not as yet beenreceived by the second vertical pair of rollers.

At the risk of stating the obvious, to avoid any possibility ofamisunderstanding, I would like to point out that the first vertical pairof rollers consists of the rollers which, in the preceding statement ofinvention, are termed the thirdroller and ,the roller adjacent theingoing conveyor; whereas the second vertical pair consists of thefourth roller and the roller adjacent the outgoing conveyor.

The log advancing means drives the logs through the two'pairs of roller.All the rollers may be idly mounted except the upper roller of thesecond vertical pair, which is driven to assure feeding of the debarkedlogonto the outgoing conveyor. ihe weight of the three upper rollers isrelied upon to hold the logs without resort (at least in mypresentlypreferred embodiment of the invention) to any auxiliarymeansfordownwardly biasing these rollers; and for this reason theserollers should be of appreciable Weight.

-.I will nowillustrate my invention by describing O the presentlypreferred embodiment thereof with the of drawings illustrating thisembodiment. In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the hood removed;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 in Figure 1;

Figure i is a section on the line 44 in Figure 1 Figure 5 is afragmentary side elevation of lifting mechanism for the fourth roller,as seen from the right hand side of Fig. 4; and

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing log entering barkingarea of the apparatus.

In the drawings, reference character A generally indicates the mainframe of the machine. This main frame A basically consists of fourvertical columns in the form of H-columns II], ll, [2 and i3 mounted onbases and connected by an upper bridge 13 and a lower bridge C, and bysuitable cross members and bracing members. There are two axiallyaligned, oppositely disposed rotary spray heads. These spray heads arearranged vertically one above the other, and the upper spray head hasbeen labeled [4, while numeral I 5 has been applied to the lower sprayhead. Sprays heads l and 15 are carried by vertically aligned shafts i6and I1, respectively. Shaft i6 is rotatably mounted in bearings (notshown) mounted within a housing [8 carried by the main frame. Shaft ithas a pulley at its upper end, which is driven by an electric motor 21through a belt 22. shaft is is hollow, and water under pressure may befed along the shaft to the rotary spray head i4, after entering theshaft through the inlet labelled 23. The arrangement of shaft I1 issimilar to that of shaft [6. Shaft H is carried by two bearings mountedwithin a housing 24, and has a pulley 26 driven by electric motor 2!through a belt 28. Shaft I1 is hollow and water under pressure may befed through an inlet 23a to the interior of the hollow shaft andtherealong to the rotary spray head IS. The rotary spray heads 14 and I5face one another, and are spaced apart a distance slightly greater thanthe diameter of the largest log for Which the machine is designed.

The motors 2! and 21 should be capable of driving the shafts I6 and H atspeeds of about 6G0 R. P. M., and I have found 20 H. P. motors suitable.

Two horizontally aligned rollers 29 and 30 are disposed above and onopposite sides of spray head 15. These rollers 29 and 30 are rotatablymounted in the main frame, with their axes of rotation parallel. Ahorizontal conveyor 3| leads to roller 29. This conveyor may be of anydesigned construction. In this example, the conveyor consists of a pairof chains 32 extending around sprockets with transverse saddles 33carried thereby. The conveyor may terminate short of roller 29, or, asshown, said roler may have cog teeth thereon around which the conveyorchains extend. Conveyor 3| is designed to deliver logs to the apparatus,and will therefore henceforth be termed the ingoing conveyor. A secondsimilar conveyor, which has been labeled 35, leads from or includesroller 36 to carry debarked logs away from the apparatus, and willtherefore henceforth be termed the outgoing conveyor.

A third roller 38 is rotatably mounted above the roller 29 with its axisof rotation parallel to that of roller 29. A log-advancing meansgenerally indicated by numeral 56 is vertically swingably mounted in themain frame at a point above the ingoing conveyor. The nature of thelog-advancing means and the manner in which it is mounted will bedescribed in greater detail later on in this specification. Roller 38 ismounted for generally vertical movement in sympathy with the swinging oflog-advancing means 46. Details of the mounting of this roller will alsobe given later on in the specification.

A fourth roller 42 is rotatably mounted above roller 30, with its axisof rotation parallel to that of the latter roller. Roller 42 is alsovertically swingable, to accommodate logs of differing diameter, and themounting of this roller and the provisions made for causing the rollerto accommodate the log will also be described in detail later on herein.

A fifth roller, which has been labeled 44, is rotatably mounted abovethe outgoing conveyor 35. The shaft of roller 44 is rotatably mounted inarms 45 and 46, which depend from the frame A and are pivotallyconnected thereto, as indicated at 41 in Figure 2. Due to thissuspension of roller 44, it will be realized that as a log emerges frombetween the rollers 30 and 42 and is received on the outgoing conveyor35, the forward end of the log will contact roller 44 and cause thisroller to swing upwardly and away from the pair of rollers 30 and 42,permitting the log to pass under roller 44 and along the conveyor 35. Atthe same time, the full weight of roller 44 will bear upon the logholding it down on conveyor 35, and preventing tipping thereof, despitethe fact that the spray heads will be directing water under highpressure on to the end of the log while it is still held between rollers30 and 42, but has been released by rollers 29 and 38.

The structure of, and the means for mounting the log-advancing meanswill now be described in greater detail. A shaft extends transverselyacross the frame A of the machine in parallel relation with the fiverollers described, and is freely rotatably mounted in pillow blocks 5!and 52 bolted to the frame, as best seen in Figure l. The shaft 50 isprovided at one of its ends with a sprocket 53, whereby the shaft may bedriven through a chain drive 55 connected with the mechanism (not shown)employed for driving the ingoing conveyor 3! or to any other suitablesource of power. The log-advancing means proper consists of a frame work58, an idler sprocket 59, a driven sprocket 68 (best seen in Figure 3),and a plurality of endless chains 62 trained over the sprockets 59 and6E. The driven sprocket 60 is keyed to the driven shaft 50, as indicatedat 64 in Figure 3. Each of the chains 62 is provided with a plurality oflog gripping spars 65. The framework 58 of the log-advancing means 40 isrigidly secured to bearings 68, both of which are shown in Figures 1 and3, and one of which is visible in Figure 2. These bearings 68 are freelymounted on the shaft 50, so that they, in effect, pivotally mount thelog-advancing means with respect to the shaft 50, and rotation of thisshaft has no effect upon the framework '58. A pair of lugs 10 extendupwardly from the framework 58 and are connected by a rod H. Acushioning air cylinder 13 is mounted on the main frame A above thelog-advancing means, and a rod 14, constituting the piston rod of thepiston thereof, is pivotally connected at its lower end to the rod 1 l.A second pair of lugs 16 are rigidly attached ana gesia s tothe bearingsts which, as previously mentioned, pivctally-mount thelog-advancingmeans. Lugs TS-are bifurcated attheir-upper ends, and a pinT7 is-mounted in the -bifu-rcatedportions and *extends transverselythereacross. The purposef these lugs andpins will be-explainedhereinafter.

Asa log is carried along conveyor 31 Tasterwardend is gripped byspur-s66 on the ch-ains '62 and thereby positi-vely f forced *towards therollers isand -38. Ihe leg-advancing -means mowill be raised by the logto varying degrees depending upon its diameter, the -"f-rame 58 pivotingabout -the-shaft--'50. Asthe log-advarrcing-means 40 is raised -by thelo'g, piston connecting :rod 4 rises in cushioning cylinder "Itdisplacing -=ai-r therein so that when the afterend of the log-clears"the inner end otleg-advancing means-4'0,- the l-atter does not dropsuddenly towards its *initial position, but rather has a cushioneddescent controlled by the piston rod H.

Roller =38 'moves insympathy with thelog-advancing means due to thearrangement ofparts whichwill=now be---described. *Roller38 is rotatably'mounted between two parallel arms 80 and-S"! best seen in Figure =1.'Theends of arms tit and '8! are rigidly secured to'trunnions 82 and-83,'resp'ectively. Trunnion 82 is -rotatabl-y mounted in a pillowblock-8s secured to column II and trunnion "83 is rotatably mounted in apillow block 85 secured to "column 1-2. "Lugs-$8 extend upwardly fromarms =88 "and ill at *oppositely disposed points intermediate the roller38 andthe trunnions. Link'arm-s im '(of adjustable 'length, asindicated'at" 9 I) connect the lugs 88 on the roller-supporting arms 80and 8! to 'thelugs on the bearings "68 -0f -the -'log-ad vancin-g meansl'fl. "One end o'feaehlink arm 90 is connectedto'each lug--88- throughasimple pivotal connectionQbut the connection of the'epposite ends ofthearmstothe ls ifurcated lugs"-"It is-somewhatmore ccmplicatedgs'inceit is desired "to provide -a 10st -=moticn -at this point, -w'hereby thelog-advancing means da after lifting roller 3B to accommodate one log,can drop toeng-a-ge the next log brought up by conveyor 3|,=despite thefact that the preceding log is still under roller To this -end,=eac'hlink =arrn=90is provided with-an elon-gated slot 93 (see Figure 2) andthe pins Ii, which passthroughthe-"bifurcated ears of the lugslfi,rideinthe-slotseii. Relative sliding of the pins andslots givesthe-desired loist motion permitting limited independentmovement of theroller and log-advancing-means4'0.

The mounting of roller will now be described with particular referenceto :Figures 1, 4and'5.

Roller 42 is rigidly secured to -a shaft 9.5, and shaftSE isrotatablymounted in bearings 6 attached to the ends of tworoller-supporting arms 9! and '88. Roller supporting arm '91 is freelymounted (asshownatSQ) on-a horizontally disposed shaft I 02 which isrotatably;mounted (in parallel relation to roller "42) in bearings-'I-ii'3--and I secured to'crcss members of the frame A. Rollersupporting arm "98 is keyed to a tubular sleeve its as indicated-at I01.IE5 is. horizontally disposed in axial alignment with-shaft IfiiZ-an'di-s-rotatably"mountedinbearin'gs- IDS-and -I' ii) securedto'crossmembers" of the frame Thereducedtend I I2 ofshaftlfi! and a'shaftI it, the latter being rotatably rmounted within sleeve I 66, carrycranked arms H5 and I it which carry a feeler plate in, holding:this-plate in irontof'roller "42 withthelcwer,edge'of the-- plate lyingbelow-'the 'axispf-the roller. -Cranked arm Tubular sleeve :42 Ito beraised the required distance. the second logj-ibe of lesserdiameter'than the first,

. '6 14B *iS keyed =t0 Shaft I F3 als indicated at H3.

Shaft 'I-t3,-=at "its outer end, carries an eccentric P20. A- servopiston cylinder i I 222 is pivotally connected =at its lower end to theouter end of an arm I'-2-3 which is-connected to and projects from thesleeve I06. A piston rod I24 extends upwardly from the cylinderand ispivotally connected to the column I O at I25. The operating mechanism12'! of the servo piston is connected by a link 128 to'the eccentric123. An adjustable -stop member I30, attached to a member I3I rigidlysecured atitsopposite ends to the arms 9-! and '$I8, is loca;ted betweenroller 742 and feeler plate H1, and-this sto member imposes a limitiupon movement of the plate I I1 towards said roller 42. When a logbeing advanced through the apparatusiisof sufficient diameter to contactfeeler plate I ll, the plate is moved upwardlywand to the left (asviewedainiFigure 2) carrying arms H5 and -'I it in aclockwise direction.Arm I I6 turns shaft III 3 i and eccentric I 29, thereby actuating theoperating mechanism I2] ofservopis- "ton I 22 through link I28. Thisservo piston is suchpthatzaslongas the feeler plate is moving sleeve I06which, in=-turn, swings the supporting arm 98'to lift roller 42.Consequently, theroller is lifted by the servo piston as long as the:feeler .plateis swung upwardly. Actually, the roller israised-sufficientlyto permitjthe log to engage it below thehorizontalaxis thereof. -Further-movement of the 510g raises the-rolleronto itsupper :surfaceyat which-time the feeler plate is free ofjthe logiand canpivot-towardsits normal position. :If -a log of'largerdiameter than thefirst .onepimmediately follows the latter, the second log will engagethe feeler plate to cause the roller Should .thewrollerwillmerely'dropon to said second log. The raising'of roller t2toaccommodate a log of such small diameter that it strikes the roller ata point substantially "below its axis of rotation is a relatively simplematter. In such a case, 'feeler plate III iis not actuated, and rollerc2, upon beingstruck byzthe 110g, swings upwardly andoutwardly, carryingrollersupporting arms'tl' 'and' 98 in a clockwisesdirection (as viewedin Figure' 2), arm 91 turning ireely on the shaft I92,

and arm 98 carrying sleeve I06 around with it.

'Whileit is preferred to have the feeler plate "and its associatedmechanism included in the apparatus, it is possible to'omit them. Inthis case, the roller '42 would be subjected to considerable abuse, orthe maximum size of logs that niightbe h'andlied would be reduced.

its previously mentioned, roller t2 is positively driven. This isaccomplished as'follows. Shaft 50, driven by'chain drive and sprocket53,

carries=a-secondsprocket-I32 which is mounted on =the-shaft at a pointadjacent sprocket '53. Shaft 'III'Z carries=asprocket I33'at its outerend, and a chain Ki l istrained over sprockets I32 and 133. Shaft'llllatits inner end, carries a sprocket I36; -and the shaft whichcarries roller i2 'is provided with a sprocket I-3'I. A chain 139 istrained over sprockets I36 and I31. With this driving arrangement, thedrive mechanism for the ingoing conveyor, through chain 55, drives notonly the log-advancing mechanism 40, but also the roller 42 (throughintermediate chains [34 and I39).

In the event that a log of a diameter greater than the 18 inch maximumfor which the machine is designed should be fed towards thelog-advancing means 40, a trigger plate 143, positioned above theingoing conveyor 3i, will be tripped by the large diameter log. Movementof this. trigger plate actuates a suitable mechanism (not shown) whichbreaks the electric circuit of the motor driving the ingoing conveyor.The too-large log may then be removed, after which the trigger plateswings back to its normal position so that operations may be resumed.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A hydraulic barker for small logs comprising a main frame, twoaxially aligned oppositely disposed rotary spray heads facing each otherand spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the diameter of thelargest log for which the apparatus is designed, means for feeding waterunder pressure to said spray heads, means for rotating said spray headsat high speeds, a pair of horizontally aligned rollers rotatably mountedin said main frame and disposed on opposite sides of said spray headswith their axes of rotation parallel, an ingoing conveyor leading to oneof said rollers, an outgoing conveyor leading from the other of saidrollers, a third roller rotatably mounted above the roller adjacent theingoing conveyor with its axis of rotation parallel to that of thelatter roller, a log-advancing means vertically swingably mounted insaid main frame above the ingoing conveyor, said third roller beingmounted for generally vertical movement in sympathy with the swinging ofsaid log-advancing means, and a fourth roller rotatably mounted abovethe roller adjacent the outgoing conveyor with its axis of rotationparallel to that of the latter roller, said fourth roller being mountedfor vertical swinging to accommodate logs of different diameter.

2. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which a fifth rotatablymounted roller is vertically swingably suspended from said main frame ata point above said outgoing conveyor.

3. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which said fourth rolleris positively driven and the remainder of said rollers are idly mounted.

4. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which a fifth rotatablymounted roller is swingably suspended from said main frame above saidoutgoing conveyor, and in which said fourth roller is positively driven,and the remainder of said rollers are idly mounted.

5. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, and means for cushioningthe vertical swinging of the lg-advancing means.

6. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which a driven shaft isrotatably mounted in said main frame above said ingoing conveyor and oneend of said log-advancing means is pivotally mounted on said shaft.

'7. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which a feeler memberis pivotally mounted in front of said fourth roller and depends to apoint below the axis of said roller, said feeler member beingoperatively connected to a mechanism arranged to raise said roller whensaid member is pivoted by the forward end of a log being fed through theapparatus.

8. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which a driven shaft isrotatably mounted in said main frame above said ingoing conveyor, inwhich said log-advancing means includes a framework, an idling sprocket,a driven sprocket, and a plurality of endless chains trained over saidsprockets, said driven sprocket being secured to said driven shaft, saidchains each being provided with a plurality of log-gripping spurs, andin which a drive connection is provided between said fourth roller andsaid driven shaft whereby said fourth roller rotates whenever said shaftis driven.

9. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 1, in which a driven shaft isrotatably mounted in said main frame above said ingoing conveyor, and inwhich said log-advancing means includes a framework, an idling sprocket,a driven sprocket, and a plurality of endless chains trained over saidsprockets, said driven sprocket being secured to said driven shaft, saidchains each being provided with a plurality of loggripping spurs.

10. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 9, in which said third rolleris carried in a pair of arms pivotally mounted in said frame, and inwhich link arms, pivotally connected to said roller carrying arms atpoints intermediate the third roller and pivotal axis of the arms, arepivotally connected to the framework of said log-advancing means.

11. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 10, in which said link armsare adjustable in length.

12. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 10, in which a measure oflost motion is provided for in the pivotal connection between said linkarms and said framework of the log-advancing means.

13. A hydraulic barker as defined in claim 12, in which lugs, extendingupwardly from said framework, carry pins which are parallel to the axesof said rollers, and in which each link arm is provided with anelongated slot extending generally longitudinally therein, said pinspassing through said slots to give said pivotal connection and beingslidable in said slots to give said lost motion.

14. A hydraulic barker for small logs comprising a main frame, twoaxially aligned oppositely disposed rotary spray heads facing each otherand spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the diameter of thelargest log for which the apparatus is designed, means for feeding waterunder pressure to said spray heads, means for rotating said spray headsat high speeds, infecd and outfeed aligned rollers rotatably mounted insaid main frame and disposed on opposite sides of said spray heads withtheir axes of rotation parallel, a third roller rotatably mounted abovethe infeed roller with its axis of rotation parallel to that of thelatter, and a fourth roller rotatably mounted above the outfeed rollerwith its axis of rotation parallel with those of the other rollers, saidthird and fourth rollers being mounted for vertical swinging toaccommodate logs of different diameter, and being adapted to steady logsmoving through high pressure spray from the rotating heads.

15. A hydraulic barker as claimed in claim 14 in which the fourth rolleris positively driven, and including means for positively moving each logbetween the third and infeed rollers until it is between the fourth andoutfeed rollers.

16. A hydraulic barker as claimed in claim 14 in which a feeler memberis movably positioned in front of the fourth roller and extends belowthe axis thereof, said feeler member being operatively connected to amechanism arranged to raise said roller when the member is moved by theforward end of a log being fed through the apparatus.

17. A hydraulic barker as claimed in claim 14 including a feeler platehingedly suspended in front of the fourth roller and depending to apoint below the axis theerof, a hydraulic cylinder operatively connectedto said roller for swinging the latter upwardly, and control means forthe cylinder operatively connected to the feeler plate, whereby movementof the plate by the forward end of a log being fed through the apparatusit) operates the control means to cause the cylinder to raise the fourthroller until said plate swings back to its normal position.

HOWARD ALLAN SIMONS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 10 2,501,848 Johnson Mar. 28, 1950 2,578,804 Holveck Dec. 18,1951 2,643,691 Rockwood June 30, 1953

